Fake screener probes passengers at SFO

Published 7:47 pm, Wednesday, July 16, 2014

(07-16) 17:46 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A man suspected of being drunk posed as a security screener at San Francisco International Airport long enough to direct a couple of women into a private booth for pat downs before real security staffers caught on to him, authorities said Wednesday.

The 53-year-old San Francisco man was arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness after creating a stir at the A-side security checkpoint of the International Terminal about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Sgt. Wesley Matsuuraof the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities are investigating whether the man should be booked on other counts, such as false imprisonment.

Matsuura would not give the man's name, saying the case has gone hush-hush since the federal Transportation Security Administration, which oversees airport security, took over the investigation into how the breach happened.

Two other airport law enforcement sources tell us the incident started when the man entered the security area wearing khaki pants, a blue polo shirt and blue rubber gloves - an outfit that might have been mistaken for those worn by screeners with the private Covenant security firm.

The man, apparently without saying much, steered a woman into one of the private screening booths used to pat down selected passengers, our sources say. What happened inside isn't known, because the woman soon disappeared to catch a flight.

A few minutes later, the man directed a second woman toward the booth, our sources say. This time, however, he caught the attention of real screeners, who figured something was wrong because male screeners are prohibited from taking women into the booth for a pat-down without a female screener also being present.

Covenant screeners detained the alleged fake until San Francisco police officers arrived. Because officers couldn't find any women who had actually entered the booth with the man, they booked him only for alleged public drunkenness.

If investigators can track down the alleged victims, however, he could face more serious charges.

The incident raises disturbing questions about who's screening the screeners at SFO.

"They will be (investigating) this for a week," said one law enforcement source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak about the case. "Someone has to pay for this."